_ The Zero Emissions Strategy Conference
_ The Zero Emissions Strategy Conference
__ Events & Accomplishments on the Z/E II Web Site
. . . Week 5 of the Conference
- The decision has now been made! EcoPlan and The Commons will continue to maintain the conference over the coming month, in the hope that both content and, equally agreeably, financial and other forms of support will be forthcoming. No complicated application is needed of course because the 'product' is unrolling in front of your eyes. (We can imagine that some bureaucracies are going to find that difficult to deal with, but we can only hope that others will come in and fill the breach.) If you think this is a useful service to the science and technology communities, the environmental movement, and the public and planet more generally, maybe you can share some thoughts with us on this.
- A major statement on the next stage of the conference will follow tomorrow.
- A new Podium piece is also being added, this time a note by Ralph Lukan of UNIDO on their program: Cleaner Production & the National Cleaner Production Centres
- In the hope that it will help you get around in the site, a site map has now been drawn up and added to the Forum. Have a look and let us know if it's of use. It very much holds the key to the entire site.
Today's Web Detour: ICQ (I Seek You) Could the more computer intrepid of you give a visit to this small Israeli company and have a look at what they're offering (for free, it's a beta). The program runs in the background, taking up minimal memory and Net resources. While you work with other applications, ICQ alerts you when associates log in, allowing you to work efficiently while maintaining a wide range of Internet functions at your fingertips. Among the functions available are: chat, message, e-mail, whiteboarding, data conferencing, and URL and file transfer. It supports a variety of Internet applications and serves as a Universal Platform from which you can launch any peer- to- peer application (such as Microsoft NetMeeting or Netscape CoolTalk).It can also be used in a multiple-user mode, so groups can conduct conferences on-line. This is a very handy utility, and we would much like to see if we can get at least some of the people at the conference using this as a supplement to the other technologies we are trying to integrate into this shared work environment.
- A major and massive overhaul of the Web site has gotten underway to prepare for the new month and extended conference format. We anticipate that it will take the rest of the week to get all the various details on order.
- The theme of this overhaul is: greater simplification, better transparency, and even better linking to sites and programs in other places in order to maximize the possibilities of synergy and reduce to a minimum unnecessary redundancy (bearing in mind that any system without at least some redundancy is going to be so fragile that it risks collapse).
- We hope that you will let us know about your reactions to these changes, and that you will continue to share with us your ideas for improvements and yet further extensions.
- We are also initiating our search for funding for the continued project (and once again your ideas and lead here will be both timely and appreciated).
- A major new mailing with an announcement of the extended conference was initiated and more than 200 individuals and institutions were selected for these purposes
- A new section entitled Menology has been added. Have a look and maybe you will have some suggestions in terms of events to add. This is intended to be a self-generating site.
- As a part of the site overhaul, we are giving great attention to making the Discussion Forum a more lively and useful element of the conference. At the outset, we had great hopes for it, but have subsequently run into a number of problems, technical and other. We intend to resolve these as quickly as possible.
- An extensive discussion of some of the technical and organizational issues that we are attempting to grapple with here will be found under our Technology Checkout Page under the section entitled, (Virtual) Conferencing Tools. We might also add that we are getting useful criticism and quite a flow of idea and offers of help on this thorny matter which we most appreciate. (A track on that will be found in the section entitled Geeks' Help.)
- As a first step (and for the time being), the content of the Discussion Forum has been organized in four main categories: (i) comments on the zero emissions themes and related matters; (ii) reactions and suggestions concerning the Virtual Conference's organization and the other Conference Tools which make up key parts of this total communications package; (iii) the various comments, hopes and suggestions of incoming participants, and (iv) other. In the meantime, have a look at Hamline University's page What is Online Conferencing? for a good first overview on the subject.
- A new section, Role and Contributions of the Participant has been added. Have a look and tell us what you think. This is after all intended as a wholly collaborative undertaking.
- Today's Podium: Poisoning the Planet, Experts, and The World Game: A Feminist Perspective, by Carol Brouillet. Several participants have criticized the work of the expert scientific and research communities in the areas that bring us here for an unhelpful and unnecessary narrowing of their perspectives. Handy for them maybe, but not so good for a world in need of solutions (and not publications per se)! Today's Podium presentation (a 'publication', by the way) reminds us of some of the broader issues that might be kept in view.
- Reflecting the importance of and the first rate sources that we are encountering as we try to move ahead with the Discussion Forum in a more effective way, we have now broken off the conferencing materials from the Technology Checkout where they were originally placed, and relocated them into a page of their own, Virtual Conferencing Overview.. Once again, tell us what you think.
- From yesterday's suggested WebDetour, have a look at "Sustainable Development: From Concept to Practice" (23rd June - 8th July), a discussion forum which was recently run by a group at the UNU/IAS, which you may wish to check out (we are doing that ourselves as well). In their own words: "We would like to invite you to join us in a discussion of the following questions. An outcome of this forum will be a set of recommendations for implementation of sustainable development from concept to action. This may take the form of a document or publication. We also hope this discussion will enable UNU/IAS to refine its research priorities for achieving effective approaches to sustainable development:
If it is to continue on a more permanent basis at IAS (why not?) we most clearly should be developing some kind of relationship with it. Are indeed they planning to maintain their site? If so, are TWO such closely related fora needed? Does our do a separate job, or should we fold ours into their's, or vice versa? What might be the justification for continuing to push with an independent discussion group under this forum? These are matters which we are asking ourselves, so if you have an opportunity to check out both sites, perhaps you can share your views with us on this as well. Like just about everything on this site, in the final analysis it will be a decision of the group.
- 1) How do participants in the sustainable development process use Agenda 21 to move from concept to implementation?
- 2) What can be the role of research institutions in achieving sustainable development through the implementation of Agenda 21 ?
- 3) What do the practitioners in the field see as the most important steps/factors required for the effective implementation of SD and how do they see the relationship of these steps/factors to the implementation of Agenda 21 ?
- 4) What issues are actually constraining the practical implementation of SD and can these constraints be overcome by the implementation of Agenda 21 ?
- 5) With regards to the above, what are the key research areas that have not been adequately covered ?
- Today, the weekend and whatever else is going to be requied to make it work is being devoted to research and contact of groups with whom we may be able to cooperate in developing a fully interactive Discussion Forum. Thus far, we are in contact with groups and experts in the States, France, New Zealand, and Sweden on this. We hope to have something solid to announce (and begin to put into practice) by the beginning of next week.
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